ASU Gammage to Honor Family of Michael Cerveris at Gammy & Jerry Awards

ASU Gammage will honor two remarkable families for their contributions to the arts community at this year's Gammy and Jerry Awards Dinner on Monday, March 21.

The 2016 Gammy Award recipient is the Cerveris family. Dr. Michael E. Cerveris, Michael Cerveris, Todd Cerveris, Marisa Cerveris and a special recognition to Marsha Cerveris Quinn.

Dr. Michael E. Cerveris is the father of Michael, Todd and Marisa Cerveris. He trained at the Juilliard School of Music and was previously a faculty member at ASU. Michael a two-time TONY Award-winner, has achieved legend status on Broadway and as a guitarist. He has starred in shows such as SWEENY TODD, LOVEMUSIK, ASSASSINS (TONY Award), EVITA, and most recently FUN HOME (TONY Award). Todd received his BA from Yale and then went on to obtain an MFA in acting from the University of California, San Diego has had an incredible career in regional theater and national tours including performances at ASU Gammage in TWELVE ANGRY MEN, SPRING AWAKENING and WAR HORSE. Marisa at age 17 she received a full scholarship to The School of American Ballet and was a member of the acclaimed New York City Ballet as was as dancer on Broadway before moving into fashion design.

WICKED and IF/THEN producer David Stone won the inaugural Gammy Award winner in 2015.

Mary and Bill Way will be honored with the 2016 Jerry Award. The prominent Valley philanthropists are members of the ASU Gammage 50th Anniversary Leadership Board (Mary as Co-chair) and have supported the Arts for most of their adult lives. Mary Way has a board position with Southwest Shakespeare Company and Bill Way serves as a trustee of Whitman College, Phoenix Art Museum board, The Nature Conservancy, the National Advisory Council for Marriott School of Business and the School of Life Project.

"Mary and Bill Way exemplify true connectors of communities and truly believe art matters," said Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, Executive Director for ASU Gammage and Associate Vice President Cultural Affairs for ASU.

The Jerry Award is named for the late Jerry Appell whom was one of ASU Gammage most ardent supporters and posthumously received the award last year.

Proceeds from the ASU Gammage Gammy and Jerry Awards is part of the ASU Gammage Golden Gammage Initiative (GGI), a $16.2 million capital campaign to sustain the landmark performing arts center for future generations. GGI includes a capital improvements fund to ensure ASU Gammage meets the needs of today's patrons including plans for restroom expansion, accessibility improvements and a revamped sound system. GGI also includes a programming endowment to support the mission of Connecting CommunitiesTM to ensure ASU Gammage continues its programs in perpetuity.

The ASU Gammage Gammy & Jerry Awards will be presented Monday, March 21 during an invitation-only event.

Following the awards ceremony, ASU Gammage will announce the 2016-2017 Broadway Season.

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